Wednesday, January 9, 2013

If you missed Part I from our beach trip, click HERE. Today I will share with you one more group of pictures from our wonderful --but short--trip to the beach from Dec. 11-14, 2012. Above is a picture of our home that week, the Islander Inn. Our unit is the top one on the left (above the gazebo).

Here is a picture showing the units from a distance. If you locate the gazebo, you can see our unit on the top... If you ever get to this area, we recommend the Islander Inn. For a reasonable price, you get a king bed, oceanfront room with balcony, sofa/chairs, bath, flatscreen cable TV, internet access, free breakfast, frig/microwave, coffee pot, etc... It's perfect for a few days at the beach for two. (They do have larger rooms for families.)

As I mentioned in Monday's post, Calabash Seafood is one of our very favorite foods --and we enjoy it every night we are in that area.. This time we ate at three different restaurants: Captain Nance's, Ella's and the Boundary House. Our all-time favorite restaurant there (DOCKSIDE) was not open... But--the others were all good...

The top left photo was a picture of George and I taken at the Boundary House... The outside of the Boundary House (boundary of North Carolina and South Carolina) is on the bottom right.. The top right was one of the older Calabash restaurants, Ella's... The bottom left is a picture of George telling me to quit taking pictures ---and let's get inside and have some SEAFOOD.... The seafood (scallops and shrimp) is pictured in the center... YUM.

In Monday's post, I showed you a neat picture showing the sun's rays shining down on the water. Here's another picture that I love, and thanks to George for taking this one.

If you remember, I mentioned in Monday's blog, a 'tiny' (ha) beach house that I thought I would like to have. I 'hearted' that mansion when we were there last May... Above is a picture I took in May --when they were working on that beach house.

Here is a close-up of the 'mansion' when we were there in December. They obviously are still working on this house... Can you imagine the cost of that place?????? GADS---maybe they'll allow me to be one of the maids!!!!! ha

The sun finally did come out!!!! Look at those blue skies!!!! It's quite a bit different from the gray, cloudy skies, isn't it?????

Here is a collage showing you the PIER at Ocean Isle Beach in different weather situations.... Thought you would enjoy seeing how different it looks at different times...

Here's a picture George took of me. It doesn't need any explanation!!!!! ha

Finally, I'll close with some pictures of the gorgeous SUNRISE we saw from our balcony. Now--you can see all of the reasons we love to come to the beach in December!!!!!! Seeing both sunrises and sunsets is just awesome. It was wonderful!

Hope you enjoyed our pictures... As you know, we love that place --and will return again in MAY, 2013...

Have a wonderful Wednesday. I finally got all of the Christmas decorations put away for a year!!! The house looks so bare now!!!!

Monday, January 7, 2013

From December 11-14, 2012, we made a quick trip to our favorite beach, OCEAN ISLE BEACH, in North Carolina. As most of you know, we go there every May for several days and really enjoy it. Then a couple of years ago, we made a 2nd trip there in December. WELL---we enjoyed it so much in December that we decided to go again.

Why do we enjoy the beach this time of year???? WELL---first of all, we can walk on the beach and have the entire area almost to ourselves. Secondly, this time of year, we can enjoy sunrises AND sunsets from our balcony... And--you know how much we love sunrises and sunsets over the water!!!!!! Thirdly, and very important, we love fresh Calabash seafood --and can't get it in Tennessee... SO--we go to EAT at our favorite restaurants...

I will show you some of our photos from this short trip in a couple of posts. Hope you enjoy them. Be sure to click on them for enlargements. Above is a picture George took of me the first time we walked on the beach after getting there on the 11th!!! I will say that it was quite cold while we were there.. BUT--we still loved it...Can you see all of those people making the beach so crowded???? ha ha

We love walking on the beach this time of year. Yes, it was quite cold ---but OH--so much fun!!!!! You can see the fishing pier WAY in the distance.

How cold was it??? WELL---cold enough so that all of these little birds were huddled up together trying to stay warm.... Poor little guys!

This will also show you how COLD, windy and drizzly it was.... BUT--again I say, it was not nearly as cold as the day we spent at Grandfather Mountain in November.... I've NEVER been THAT cold before....ha

Here are some of the things we enjoyed at the beach this time:
Top left--lots of birds; Top right---nobody there but US (that is George in the picture);
Bottom left---Betsy drooled over that tiny little beach house in the distance--ha;
Bottom right--Great reflection of the pier in the water/sand;
Center--a Sand Dollar I found; Neat, huh?????

Our motel (Islander Inn) is not far from the fishing pier... SO--when we walk on the beach, we usually walk to the pier and beyond one direction --and then walk the other direction at another time. I took this picture of George as we wandered around the pier.

We didn't get to see the moon over the water this year ---but we did enjoy watching the sun peak through the clouds... I love pictures of sunbeams... Do you?

Finally, here are some of our photos of the sunset.... After a mostly cloudy week, the sun came out on Dec. 13 ---and really showed off for us. Isn't it marvelous?

I have one more post from this trip --including a sunrise and some blue sky pictures!!!! If you want to see that post, click HERE.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Before Christmas, George and I made three separate trips to visit some of the family. On Dec. 20, we drove to Tullahoma to visit George's 100 yr. old Dad. We took him to lunch ---and he woofed down some fried chicken, onion rings, slaw and a big brownie topped with ice cream..... Gee---that man still can EAT.... Awesome, isn't it???? The picture above is of George and his Dad.. I love that picture, don't you?

Then on Dec. 22, we drove down to Dalton, GA to have dinner and spend some time with son Jeff and his bride, Dawn. Those two are SO happy ---and enjoying their first Christmas together as man and wife. We gave them a "First Christmas" ornament... They fixed some delicious Gumbo for dinner.... YUM... We had a wonderful time with them. The picture above is their gorgeous Christmas tree --which they picked out together at a tree farm. Isn't it pretty?

Here is a picture of the newlyweds which I took while we visited. Jeff inherited 3 doggies.... Dawn is holding Henry. The other two are bigger dogs which stay outside most of the time. Henry is ADORABLE---but it has taken him awhile to share his Mama with Jeff.... ha

THEN--on Dec. 23, we drove to Nashville to have dinner and do some photography with George's beautiful daughter, Kelly, and her hubby, Chuck. They live in Buffalo --so we don't get to see them often. BUT-since they were in Nashville attending an event, we took the opportunity to meet with them for some time together...

After dinner, we drove to an interesting old cemetery to do some walking and take some pictures. The cemetery, Mount Olivet Cemetery, is really interesting. The weather was TERRIBLE (cold and drizzly) --so we didn't stay long. BUT--we did get some good pictures while we were there. The picture of Kelly and Chuck above was taken at the cemetery. They were standing
next to a HUGE Magnolia tree (which I have pictured in the next photo
below). NOTE: Chuck is really taller than Kelly---but she was standing on a large tree root.

The cemetery (250 acres) was established in 1856---so it is very old with some interesting sculptures. Besides these sculptures, there were some AWESOME old trees on the property. The picture above was one of the largest MAGNOLIA trees I have ever seen. Note the trunk of this huge tree in the photo above of Kelly/Chuck.

Besides the Magnolia tree, I also saw the largest HOLLY TREE I have ever seen. In fact, there were several Holly trees in this area ---and probably more Magnolias. The picture above shows one of these gorgeous Holly trees. They are LOADED with berries.... So pretty!

And here is a close-up picture of some of the beautiful Holly berries.

Finally, I'll close with some photos of some of the gorgeous sculptures in that cemetery.

As you can imagine, we had a wonderful three days with family. That made our Christmas very very special this year.

We drove to Tullahoma yesterday to see Dad. (We go down there about every other week.) He is fine ---and kept talking about someone selling all of the horses... HA HA ---he has never had any horses!!!! Bless his heart.

Hope you have a great weekend. I will see you on Monday. HAPPY 2013 to YOU.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Hello There --and Happy New Year!!!! Hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas. I do have one more set of photos to share --that of Christmas Morning at our House... Hope you don't mind seeing one more set of Christmas pictures!!!!!

George and I did have a fabulous Christmas this year. We were on the road 3 different days---visiting family... On Dec. 20, we drove to Tullahoma and celebrated Christmas with Dad Adams... Then on Dec. 22, we drove to Dalton, GA and had a wonderful day with son Jeff and his bride, Dawn. AND--on Dec. 23, we drove to Nashville and visited with George's beautiful daughter, Kelly, and hubby Chuck (who were visiting friends in Nashville)...

Because we did the 'family thing' ahead of time, George and I celebrated Christmas at home with each other --and enjoyed a fabulous day together both on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. We enjoyed a couple of our traditions on Christmas Eve; one was sitting together and listening to the entire MESSIAH on CD, and the other was opening ONE gift each along with sharing some Eggnog before going to bed.

Then on Christmas morning, we slept in (which was nice), had breakfast and did our devotions BEFORE opening presents. (That's a switch from the olden days when we had children at home.) Then we cleaned up, got dressed and took our set of photos together using the tripod... We do this every Christmas --so that we'll have some new pictures for next year's Christmas Cards...

For those of you who know us, you will know that even though I make a 'big deal' out of Christmas (and most everything else in our lives---ha), we don't spend alot of money at Christmas. One of our traditions is buying each other special ornaments each year for our tree. We love doing that so that every Christmas, we can relive the previous years through our ornaments.

Hope you enjoy seeing some of this year's photos.. Be sure to click on them for enlargements... Above is a picture which George took on Christmas morning BEFORE we opened our presents.

Here are a couple of t-shirts we gave each other. We had never had a Great Smoky Mountain National Park t-shirt --even though we have been there a million times and love it there. George got us a Grand Canyon Sunset t-shirt ---made from a photo which he had taken when we were there in 2011.

These are some of the ornaments we gave each other this year. There's a music one --since we both love music. There's a bird one--since I love my backyard birds... The one in the bottom right corner is of Beehive Geyser (Yellowstone). George took that photo when we were there this past September.

Here are some more pictures taken that morning... See that cup? George took a picture from one of our Fall trips to the Foothills Parkway in the Smokies and had it put on two cups for us... AND--see the angel? That is a beautiful Willow Angel which hangs on the tree. I collect Willows --so was THRILLED to have this new one.

Here are more ornaments... The top one on the left is a picture George took from inside the Air Force Academy Chapel when we were there in September. Next to it is a Mt. Rushmore ornament... Below on the left is a little wooden angle for our tree... AND--the new Willow Angel is beside it...

I love my new Waterfall Calendar, and George (and I both) love our new Electric Blanket... Santa knew that we needed a new one since our old one quit working!!!

Here are just some of the 'many' pictures we took with our tripod on Christmas morning... You'll have to pick out your favorite... I'm saving my favorite one to show you at the end of this post....

Here's one more set of pictures from our gift exchange... There are three of George's pictures which he had blown up and framed... I especially love the one in the top left. I've never had a canvas picture before --and this was taken from one of our favorite places, Skyline Drive in Virginia... The middle one on top shows my new Photo Shop Elements 11 program. AND-the framed photo on the right was taken by George in the Smokies. The photo on the bottom right is of Pikes Peak --and shows those gorgeous Aspens in bloom.

AND----to prove that both George and I can be SILLY (not that I need to prove that--ha ha), here are a couple of crazy pictures taken while we were taking tripod pictures --looking for that perfect shot.

Finally, here is my favorite Christmas picture of us taken in 2012... This one will probably be on next year's Christmas Cards--unless we change our minds between now and then... ha ha

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and a fun New Year's celebration. Did you have your 'black-eyed-peas' yesterday---for good luck??? I always make Hoppin' John (which is a rice, black-eyed-peas, bacon, ham, sausage, onions casserole) ---so hopefully, we will have a fabulous 2013...

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About Me

Welcome to my blog. Hubby and I are retired and live in beautiful Fairfield Glade on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. We enjoy Traveling, Hiking, Searching for Waterfalls, Gardening (especially flowers including our ROSES); and I love my Backyard Birds and also working on Family History. Hope you enjoy my blog!